Andante in F minor (JB 1:117)

Instrumentation

Editions (2)

• Original Lvl 4 2m 30s
• Original Lvl 4 2m 30s

Musical Terms (3)

• deafness English
  Smetana lost his hearing completely in October 1874, at the age of fifty. Unlike Beethoven, who had several years of partial hearing before total deafness, Smetana's loss was sudden. Despite this, his greatest works — Má vlast, the Czech Dances, Rêves, both string quartets — were written after 1874. The Rêves, Czech Dances, and the Romance in G minor (his last piano piece, 1880) were all composed in silence. A high-pitched tone, the A four octaves above middle A, tormented him constantly; he notated it in the first string quartet 'From My Life'.
  The fact that Smetana's finest piano works were composed deaf demands respect in performance. When playing Rêves or Czech Dances II — knowing they were written in complete silence — every note carries additional weight. Smetana could not hear his own music; he composed from internal imagination alone.
• Má vlast Czech
  My Homeland — the cycle of six symphonic poems for orchestra by Smetana composed 1872–79. Arguably the single most important work in Czech music, it depicts scenes and legends from Bohemia: Vyšehrad (the ancient citadel of Prague), Vltava (the Moldau river), Šárka (a warrior maiden), From Bohemian Fields and Groves, Tábor (the Hussite stronghold), and Blaník (the mountain where the knights of St Wenceslas sleep). The cycle was composed at the same time as the Rêves for piano, and the same depth of patriotic feeling is present in both works.
  Understanding Má vlast illuminates Smetana's piano music, especially Rêves, Czech Dances, and Memories of Bohemia. The piano works share the same landscape and legend: the same Bohemia is present in both. When learning the Czech Dances II or Rêves, think of the same emotional world — the rolling countryside, the ancient legends, the longing for a homeland.
• polka Czech
  A lively Czech dance in 2/4 time originating in Bohemia around 1830. The polka became the most internationally popular dance of the mid-19th century. For Smetana it was the quintessential Czech form — he composed polkas throughout his career, from early salon pieces to the grand concert polkas of Czech Dances I and the operatic dances. The word is thought to derive from the Czech 'půlka' (half-step), referring to the characteristic hop on the upbeat.
  Smetana's polkas range from intimate salon pieces to demanding concert works. In the early salon and poetic polkas (Opp. 7, 8), keep the texture light and the character dance-like without being mechanical. In the concert polkas of Czech Dances I (1877), the polka is a fully developed recital piece requiring full virtuosity. The characteristic 'hop' upbeat should be present but not exaggerated.